felicity
Posted : 8/28/2006 7:36:56 PM
I don't really think you have a leadership problem. You have a hyper, under-exercised dog who has never learned how to control herself or how to focus.
1) what do you feed her? many commercial foods are chock-full of sugar and other chemicals that can cause dogs to act like they are maniacs. I once fed some Mighty Dog to my dogs, and they acted liked they'd been given uppers. It was shocking, especially considering how little of the stuff they had eaten.
2) at least two hours of full-out running every day. Incorporate obedience and focus exercises into these runs-- put a long line on the dog to maintain control, and at random ask for the dog to pay attention to you and obey a simple obedience command. Reward reward reward. Throw a frisbee or ball as her reward if she likes such things, that'll help exercise her.
3) NILIF program. This is a simple concept-- anything the dog might want, such as petting, release from the laundry room, a walk, dinner, a treat, the dog has to control herself and obey a command from you before she gets it. So she's in the laundry room and you're coming to let her out. Ask her to sit. If she's leaping and flinging herself about, she doesn't come out. Even if it takes her three days to calm down, she doesn't come out until she sits.
4) watch for good behavior on her part and reward. This is hard for people to do, because dogs quietly lying are hard to notice, while dogs flinging themselves on you are.
5) if she's being obnoxious, ignore her. No eye contact, no pushing her away, no saying NO. Many dogs consider any kind of attention to be a reward.
i feed her home cooked meals, mince, beans, pasta, rice, carrots and peas, plus, lamb offcuts and turkey wings.
i do need to up her exersize but the weather hasn't been the best, i have been taking her out in the yard recently and getting her to sprint which doesn't take a lot and she will sprint until she wears herself out so that's helping
i have also been giving her the treat ball more often and she loves that, it keeps her interested and she pushes it with her nose and when it gets stuck in a corner she picks it up and drops it in the open again.
i have been trying NILIF and am sticking with it for a change, i have noticed small improvment.
i have been rewarding her, i always do
and i have also been getting better at ingnoring her when she's abnoxious which has helped heaps with her jumping on me when i let her out of the bathroom in the morning, instead of jumping on me she sits and waits, she still looks like she wants to jump out of her skin and snorts in excitement but i'm very proud of her.
and don't worry, i would never punish or try to dominate anassa, i don't beleieve in that.
I am really worried about your choice of a second dog, What was you line of thinking? Firstly, that big hyper-active dog can really hurt, a small dog no matter how careful you are, and if this dog were to get a companion it should be something of equal size and energy, they would work off steam w/each other instead of you.
i know anassa and she has played with tiny breeds before, jack russels, poodles, chi mixes and she doesn't hurt them, she's very gentle, i know what i'm doing
, i would never bring a small breed into my home if i though anassa would hurt him. but thankyou for your concern
she actually played with a terrier cross the other day in the park and he was tiny, she kept sprinting ahead and he would try to catch up, then he'd get tired and lay down and nass would come and stand next to him to see what whas wrong lol
At least you are looking for answers here, and getting a lot of solutions, instead of trucking her off to the shelter. [
] The more positive time and energy you put into her, the better and smarter she'll be in the long run.
i would never take anassa to a shelter, she is family as far as i'm concerned and i'd no more get rid of her than any other family member, it's just not what i do, i love her more than anything even when she's obnoxious, i'm not the sort of person that gets a dog and gives up on it, anyone who does that never loved their dog in the first place in my opinion, even if anassa got aggressive, i would work it out but i would never get rid of her, she is my sweety [
]
but i know that by me not understanding her behavior it makes it hard for her and i want her to be happier, it is going well though and i have been trying a lot harder, all of your replies have been a big help too.
felicity